Field Report: NYC - What's Here? What can be?

Anarch Free Press, October 20, 2007

New York City: Like it or not, it's the last frontier post left on the East Coast. It's a place that teeters on the brink of political collapse, positioned since 1999 in a delicate balancing act between a IT court which holds onto power by the skin of their teeth, an encroaching SoC which makes desperate lunges for ground at the sacrifice of the M.1., and a Cathayan presence in Jersey, which looms ever present over the populace. Were it not for it's entirely different culture and it's complete lack of earthquakes, one could easily confuse it with San Francisco, given the diverse and strange political eco-systems that somehow co-exist here.

One thing that it's missing, however, is a representative political group from our camp. The city has had it's base of activists dry up rapidly since the early 2000s, which is surprising, given the shift from being an SoC held Domain. While Staten Island is still, as far as I have been informed, our territory should anyone claim it, nobody in our camp had made a significant stand since the Battle of 1999, especially with the death of Boss Callahan in recent years. Big-name figures of the movement are sparse here as well, with the most notable icon in the city being a now-deceased Sheriff who proved an ironically staunch supporter of the IT before the Sect had him killed (I don't think I need to name names). Aside from that, former "barons" C-Dog and B-Money have proved unfindable as of this point in time (at least to this intrepid journalist) and are minimally far removed from the public eye if not removed from the city proper.

Of course, it is this author's opinion that the movement in question does better without figureheads.

However, with no populace and no rallying point, it seems a hard proposition to try to kindle the flame of our particular brand of ideology in the city without either a mass influx of young hopefuls into an admittedly unstable political zone, the call for heavy-handed and destabilizing direct action, or through heavy recruitment of the IT youth. I think the latter is a particularly fertile option, myself, given a state of the IT populace which I hope to provide a sketch of through this series.

The SoC and the Cathayans aren't forces to be approached for change, and I feel history makes my point blatant. The IT is our paternal faction, however, and is from them which we draw the majority of our membership. To fail to exploit this relationship will lead to our demise, particularly now that the NPM has put us in want for territory.

NYC is, quite frankly, a barony in the rough. It's “Prince” is, in all actuality, a cast off of Smiling Jack's and the elders of the city seem not to question his authority. This is largely because elder culture is non-existent here. The majority of folk in the region seem to be fresh embraces. The officers seem to be powerless to do more than grumble about outbursts (We had a merry game of bear-baiting that made the Keeper look quite the bear.) The Primogen are largely absent, and a wide spread of Clans seem to lack formal representation. The feeling of the city is one of paranoia, due to the threat of SoC and the hunting clubs that the SoC seem to have attracted, and it is only this thin veneer of fear that seems to keep operations working in a nominally IT label.

Aside from that, there is nothing but young, disorganized citizens who seem to lack a direction. A great deal of rhetoric has been expended in telling them that their direction lies in a mutual social responsibility to one another, of course, under the auspices of the IT. In general, the sentiment is fruitful and seemingly well-intentioned, and Mr. Wright, the leader of forces in the region, seems to believe in it.

Were it not for the slightest nuances of etiquette and rank here and the few errant ancillae who seem to think fit to carve a niche for themselves here, this place would already be ours in all but name. I intend to elaborate on this in further issues, but know this, you who read this, that NYC is ready for our kind and is an opportunity that will either be seized upon or sorely regretted in years to come.